China’s Exports Rebound, Trade Surplus with US Swells

China’s exports rebounded in April and its politically sensitive monthly trade surplus with the United States grew for the first time in five months as Beijing and Washington haggled over the chronic imbalance.

U.S. officials visited Beijing last week for talks on cooling rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies over trade and technology issues. Those meetings appeared to make scant progress, but further discussions are scheduled to resume next week.

China’s Foreign Ministry said that a planned visit by President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, Liu He, to Washington next week shows the U.S. hopes to “reach a consensus” with Beijing on trade and economic issues.

The data released by China on Tuesday showed its trade surplus with the U.S. totaled $80.4 billion in January-April, up from $50 billion in the same period last year. President Donald Trump’s demands that China slash its surplus with the U.S. have become a cornerstone of his combative economic policy.

In April, the trade surplus with the U.S. swelled to $22.2 billion, up from $15.4 in March and the first increase since November, as exports to the U.S. grew at a double digit pace.